A BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of the second book in JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Brian Sibley's famous 1981 adaptation, starring Ian Holm and Michael Hordern, has been divided into three corresponding parts, with newly recorded beginning and end narration by Ian Holm.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King (Dramatised)

A BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of the third book in JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Brian Sibley's famous 1981 adaptation, starring Ian Holm and Michael Hordern, has been divided into three corresponding parts, with newly recorded beginning and end narration by Ian Holm.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Dramatised)

A BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of the first book in JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Brian Sibley's famous 1981 adaptation, starring Ian Holm and Michael Hordern, has been divided into three corresponding parts, with newly recorded beginning and end narration by Ian Holm.

The Hobbit (Dramatised)

The radio dramatisation of The Hobbit became a classic when it was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1968 and it continues to delight today. Tolkien's famous saga, the prelude to the Lord of the Rings, has all the ingredients of fantasy and adventure: dwarves, elves, goblins and trolls, a fearsome dragon, a great wizard, a perilous quest, and a dramatic climax.

The Return of the King (Dramatized)

War rages in the west, a titanic battle of will and strategy between the great wizard Gandalf and Sauron, the dark lord. Meanwhile, eastward in Mordor, Frodo and Sam approach the end of their improbable quest, bearing the One Ring ever closer to the Cracks of Doom, and to a final confrontation with the very essence of evil.

The Hobbit (Dramatized)

Bilbo Baggins, a gentle hobbit who loves the comforts of home, reluctantly joins a company of dwarves on a journey to recover plundered gold from a fierce dragon. It's a tale of high adventure and astonishing courage, and a magical prelude to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Fellowship of the Ring (Dramatized)

In the ancient lands of Middle-earth, a place of elves and dwarves, Orcs and wizards, the darkest evil and the brightest good, a hobbit named Frodo Baggins embarks on a perilous quest: to carry the One Ring, ruler of all the Rings of Power, into the shadowy land of Mordor and destroy it in the fires where it was forged.

The Two Towers (Dramatized)

The Fellowship is broken; the quest to destroy the Ring seems already shrouded in disaster. But as the evil lord Sauron readies his armies for war, Frodo and Sam continue their lonely journey toward Mordor, guided only by Gollum, a deceitful and tortured creature, helplessly in thrall to the Ring's dark power.

The Two Towers: Book Two in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The Two Towers is the second volume of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic saga, The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship has been forced to split up. Frodo and Sam must continue alone towards Mount Doom, where the One Ring must be destroyed. Meanwhile, at Helm’s Deep and Isengard, the first great battles of the War of the Ring take shape. In this splendid, unabridged audio production of Tolkien’s great work, all the inhabitants of a magical universe - hobbits, elves, and wizards - spring to life. Rob Inglis’ narration has been praised as a masterpiece of audio.

The Return of the King: Book Three in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The Return of the King is the towering climax to J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy that tells the saga of the hobbits of Middle-earth and the great War of the Rings. In this concluding volume, Frodo and Sam make a terrible journey to the heart of the Land of the Shadow in a final reckoning with the power of Sauron. In addition to narrating the prose passages, Rob Inglis sings the trilogy’s songs and poems a capella, using melodies composed by Inglis and Claudia Howard, the Recorded Books studio director.

The Fellowship of the Ring: Book One in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume in the trilogy, tells of the fateful power of the One Ring. It begins a magnificent tale of adventure that will plunge the members of the Fellowship of the Ring into a perilous quest and set the stage for the ultimate clash between the powers of good and evil.

The Hobbit

Like every other hobbit, Bilbo Baggins likes nothing better than a quiet evening in his snug hole in the ground, dining on a sumptuous dinner in front of a fire. But when a wandering wizard captivates him with tales of the unknown, Bilbo becomes restless. Soon he joins the wizard’s band of homeless dwarves in search of giant spiders, savage wolves, and other dangers. Bilbo quickly tires of the quest for adventure and longs for the security of his familiar home. But before he can return to his life of comfort, he must face the greatest threat of all.

Tales from the Perilous Realm (Dramatised)

Michael Hordern stars as J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, in four BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations. Tolkien's tales of myth, mystery, and rumbustious exploits have been specially adapted for radio by Brian Sibley, one of the dramatists of the highly acclaimed BBC radio production of The Lord of the Rings.

The Children of Hurin

There are tales of Middle-earth from times long before The Lord of the Rings. The story told in this book is set in the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West: lands where Treebeard once walked, but which were drowned in the great cataclysm that ended the First Age of the World.

The Complete Chronicles of Narnia: The Classic BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisations

C.S. Lewis’s acclaimed and universally loved novels spring to life in these spellbinding full-cast BBC dramatisations. Anyone who’s visited Narnia wants to go back again, and these radio dramas make for a hugely entertaining first-time or return journey, with a cast including Bernard Cribbins, Maurice Denham, Richard Griffiths, Martin Jarvis, Sylvester McCoy, John Sessions, Fiona Shaw and Timothy Spall.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Volume 1: The War of the Ring

The Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventures as the quest continues. Aragon, revealed as the hidden heir of the ancient Kings of the West, joined with the Riders of Rohan against the forces of Isengard, and took part in the desperate victory of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by orcs, escaped into Fangorn Forest and there encountered the Ents. And all the time the armies of the Dark Lord are massing.

Star Wars (Dramatized)

This landmark production, perhaps the most ambitious radio project ever attempted, began when Star Wars creator George Lucas donated the story rights to an NPR affiliate. Writer Brian Daley adapted the film's highly visual script to the special demands and unique possibilities of radio, creating a more richly textured tale with greater emphasis on character development.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Quandary Phase (Dramatized)

Don't panic! The Hitchhiker's saga returns once again with a brand new full-cast dramatisation of So Long and Thanks For All the Fish, the fourth book in Douglas Adams's famous 'trilogy in five parts'. The Earth has miraculously reappeared and, even more miraculously, Arthur Dent has found it. Returning to his cottage after...well...ages, he falls in love with the girl of his dreams.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Volume 1: The Treason of Isengard

Frodo and the Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. Now they continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin, alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Quintessential Phase (Dramatized)

Panic! It's the last ever instalment of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, with a brand new full-cast dramatisation of Mostly Harmless, the final book in Douglas Adams's famous 'trilogy in five parts'. While frequent flyer Arthur Dent searches the universe for his lost love, Ford Prefect discovers a disturbing blast from the past at The Hitchhiker's Guide HQ.

Finding God in The Lord of the Rings

Recently named the #1 piece of 20th century literature, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is more than a great story. It's a much-needed reminder that, like J.R.R. Tolkien's hobbits, Christians are all on an epic quest. In examining the Christian themes in the trilogy, authors Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware find that truth and fiction are not as far apart as they seem.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Secondary Phase (Dramatised)

A Special Edition of the original radio series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978 and recently voted the Nation's Favourite Audiobook in a Guardian poll.

Starring Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern, Mark Wing-Davey, Susan Sheridan and Stephen Moore, these six episodes (Fit the First to Fit the Sixth) have been remastered to modern-day standards by Dirk Maggs, and for the first time feature Philip Pope's arrangement of the familiar theme tune.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Volume Two (Dramatised)

Clive Merrison stars as Holmes, with Michael Williams as Watson, in these adventures, part of the unique, fully dramatised BBC canon of Conan Doyle's short stories and novels featuring the world-famous sleuth.

Publisher's Summary

A BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of the second book in JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Brian Sibley's famous 1981 adaptation, starring Ian Holm and Michael Hordern, has been divided into three corresponding parts, with newly recorded beginning and end narration by Ian Holm.

As I said I wasn't made aware of the BBC's dramatization of Lord of the Rings until 2001, twenty years after its initial release. And even then I wasn't aware of the anniversary edition which added the opening and closing narrations by Frodo. But as I said it was a much better version than the NPR Playhouse version. Granted I do still somewhat enjoy that one, but after hearing this one I must conclude that it' is far superior. And of course it's far better than the films, as good as those admittedly were. One thing I like about this version is that it stays more or less true to the characters as described in the book, which the films didn't always do.. A notable example is Treebeard. In the NPR playhouse version he was voiced by Tom Luce with a rather annoying echo effect added. Needless to say it made hm sound rather campy. In the films he was hostile towards the Hobbits at first and made them aware of Gandalf's survival long before they learned of it in the book. Here, actor Steven Thorn gives him a commanding yet somewat mischievous quality that I always did perceive in the character. And the Ents have a cool marching song which I'm sure was in the novel but here is excellently presented. In short I don't think I stopped listening to this any longer than was absolutely necessary, such as for meal and bathroom breaks. But then back to it I went. And now that Audible has them I can carry them with me on my IPod anytime, which should come in useful particularly for long trips in the car. And tense or scary parts of the story really come off as tense or scary here, which is definitely a good thing! Excellent music and SFX combined with an excellent cast bring this tale fabulously to life. It's definitely worth the credits or the money.

Once again I enjoyed listening to The Two Towers in dramatization. I think the story is always so much more enriched when the different characters are spoken by different people.
If you want heaps of detail to the story line then don't buy this, there is only so much detail that can be added while incorperating sound effects and music. But overall I found that it contained enough plot line to get the major gist of the story without being waffly and boring to listen to. I really love the LOTR trilogy over the full book anyway. The book, (though I'm sure is amazing once you get into it) is very waffly at the start and I could not read it, so having this to listen to gave me the chance to picture the whole Tolkein world with very little effort.
This Is great to have in the car to listen to on long, and otherwise boring, journeys.

I've read the triligy several times and love the unabridged work, however this dramatised version has very good voices and pace. I don't care for the singing, but I tend to fast forward through that and it's just part of the story.

Still the best version, terrific cast, and faithful to the original book and storyline it has stood the test of time since first broadcast

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Miss

2/5/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Amazing best book ive listend to for a long time"

My favourite part was when Aragorn , Legolas and Gimli go into the haunted mountain and the dead are following them

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Edmund

Chirk, United Kingdom

1/19/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Gollum steals the show."

In a similar fashion to the first part of this production the cast is spot on. However, as the review suggests the character of Gollum is absolutley spot on.

As the ring gets closer and closet to Mordor a sense of foreboding begins to creep up in the production. Frodo becomes more and more closeted and begins to become more Gollum-ish every time we encounter him. Meanwhile, attentions turn to Rohan and Gondor as the rest of the company try to seal their fates.

The mixing of the speech compared to the music is still rather off but the actual dramatization is first class. Sam's actor does a fine job too.

A very enjoyable listen. Fractionally better than the first part, though it isn't by much, is it precious?

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Anna Zaneva

Italy

4/13/13

Overall

"Very Entretaining!"

This book is wonderfully read and it really helps having it in the dramatized version!

The book is a long one so I don't recommend for you to keep listening for hours but it is your choice!

Have it, it is an enjoyable experience!

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

Shane

DRIFFIELD, East Yorkshire, United Kingdom

8/30/10

Overall

"Sound effects do enhance some titles"

Brilliant storyline as expected but how the sound effects appropreate something very special, capturing these titles with distinctive wrist to audible listening.

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

Your report has been received. It will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

Can't wait to hear more from this listener?

You can now follow your favorite reviewers on Audible.

When you follow another listener, we'll highlight the books they review, and even email* you a copy of any new reviews they write. You can un-follow a listener at any time to stop receiving their updates.

* If you already opted out of emails from Audible you will still get review emails by the listeners you follow.